The Giants do not scare you when they walk off the bus. Their roster wasn't built so much as thrown together. They have more characters than a sitcom writer's brainstorm session.

And after a 4-3 victory Saturday night in Game 1 of the NL Championship Series, they have the league's attention.

Ross hit two home runs -- thrusting two surprising lances into Roy Halladay's thick armor -- and Lincecum pitched from his heels for seven innings but proved himself the better man in a celebrated matchup.

Brian Wilson worked a four-out save as the underdog Giants stunned the two-time defending NL-champion Phillies and their fans at Citizens Bank Park.

"We have some characters here, you know, whether you want to call them castoffs or misfits," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "I compare them to the Dirty Dozen. That's the way they play, but they've coalesced into a team that goes out there to win."

Nobody would dare wolf whistle at stone faces like Charles Bronson or Lee Marvin, but Lincecum's long hair made him an inviting target for the Phillies' inventive fans. The ballpark filled with the sound of 40,000 mockingbirds for each of Lincecum's at-bats.

Despite some shaky moments, including a rare mound visit from Bochy after he showed frustration in the third, Lincecum didn't let the hostile environment affect him. After grounding out in the seventh, he laughed at third base coach Tim Flannery as the crowd whistled him all the way into the dugout.

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"You're fighting more than just the Philly team," Lincecum said. "It turns into the whole Philly atmosphere. You know you're going to get that coming in here. It just makes the environment that much more fun, that much more special, and a lot more pressure."

Lincecum's other thought on the whistles?

"I was thinking I must have a really nice butt," he said, laughing.

In a game that was billed as a crossing of swords between Lincecum and Halladay, neither pitcher emerged without a scratch. Lincecum allowed six hits and three walks while striking out eight in seven innings; Halladay lost to the Giants for the second time this season, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out seven in seven innings.

Both pitchers allowed two home runs.

Ross said last week that he grew up in New Mexico, the son of a chiropractor by day and cowboy by night, and he did his share of mutton busting as a kid. But he really dreamed of being the guy in the barrel and painted face.

He took the barrel to Halladay, all right. The Phillies' ace was coming off his historic no-hitter of the Cincinnati Reds in his first career postseason start, and he retired the first seven Giants before Ross cracked his home run into the left-field seats with one out in the third.

It was the first hit Halladay allowed since the eighth inning on Sept. 27, to Adam Dunn of the Washington Nationals. He had retired 40 of 41 since then.

Ross knew Halladay well. He was 0 for 3 against him as a member of the Florida Marlins on May 29, when Halladay threw the 20th perfect game in major league history.

"In the past, I've tried everything against him," Ross said. "Try to wait him out, try to be aggressive, and I guess in between. I was just looking for a pitch to drive, and luckily I got it."

The Phillies tied it when their own No. 8 hitter, Carlos Ruiz, hit a home run off Lincecum in the bottom of the inning.

But Ross didn't miss another pitch down the middle, putting the Giants ahead with another shot that landed in nearly the same spot in the fifth. He joined Jeff Kent, Rich Aurilia and Will Clark as the only Giants in the club's San Francisco era to hit two home runs in a postseason game.

Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff chuckled when told Ross is a streaky hitter.

"If you're going to be streaky, now's a nice time for it," Huff said of Ross, who was claimed off waivers from the Marlins. "He's been a nice garbage find for us."

The Giants' two-run sixth turned out to be golden. Pat Burrell hit a run-scoring double off Raul Ibanez's glove in deep left field, and Juan Uribe's single up the middle scored pinch runner Nate Schierholtz to give the Giants a 4-1 lead.

"I'm thinking there's no way we're going to make it this easy," Huff said. "Two pitches later, it's 4-3 and I'm thinking, 'That's about right.'"

Lincecum yielded a two-run homer to Jayson Werth. But Bochy trusted his ace, letting him hit in the seventh. And Lincecum rewarded him with a quiet, 11-pitch inning.

Javier Lopez retired Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the eighth, Wilson finished the rest and the Giants won another game with no margin for error. Each of their four postseason victories have been by one run.

They don't win going away. But they keep winning.

"We like the odds stacked up against us," Wilson said. "If all the odds say we're going to lose, then what do you have to lose?

"We went out there played our game, attacked the zone, we had our ace going and we shut the door. We were able to draw first blood. That eases the tension and takes the air out of the other team."